Getting High on Mount Tabor

           Of the many different ways a person can get high, my favorite way to get high would have to be running. My favorite place to get a runner’s high is on a dormant volcano near my house named Mount Tabor. The city park happens to be the highest place in my neighborhood, so in essence, when I run up Mount Tabor, I’m getting high in multiple ways.

            I hadn’t gotten high in a while, so after work on Monday I decided to get high. I strapped on my running shoes and headed for the top of Tabor. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until I reached the top. There were people everywhere, which is highly unusual this time of year. And not only were there people everywhere, but they were doing things that I don’t usually see people doing on top of Tabor. There were cyclists, skateboarders, hikers, and runners like myself, which were not at all out of the ordinary. But there were also jugglers, slack-liners, hoola-hoopers, dancers, and even a DJ spinning records. And a whole bunch of people just lounging around, doing nothing in particular. Why were all these people on top of Tabor?

            For the life of me, I couldn’t figure it out. I’ve run to the top of Tabor over a thousand times since I’ve lived in Oregon and not once had I ever seen anything like it. The park does get crowded sometimes in the summer, but this was spring. The park does get crowded sometimes on the weekends, but this was a Monday. What the hell was going on? What would posses so many people to visit the top of Tabor on a random Monday in April?

            When I got to the bottom of the mountain, it finally hit me. This wasn’t just any ordinary day in April. It was April 20^th. 4/20. 420. The unofficial marijuana smoking holiday. How did I not put two and two together? After all, I knew it was 420 when I woke up that morning. I knew it was 420 during my lunch break. I definitely knew it was 420 at 4:20 in the afternoon. And I even knew it was 420 just before I left for my run. So, how could it be that I didn’t realize 420 was the reason all those people were celebrating on top of Tabor? Perhaps my mind isn’t as sharp as it once was. Perhaps my memory is slipping. Perhaps I was just too high. It must be from all the running.